


Advent Klainendar

by hazelandglasz



Category: Glee
Genre: Advent Calendar, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-03 06:04:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1066946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelandglasz/pseuds/hazelandglasz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the day they met as kids in a playground to their kid's first Christmas, follow 24 days of Kurt and Blaine's story</p><p>Story by hazelandglasz<br/>Illustration by sunshunes</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

* * *

Blaine loves going to the park.

It’s a nice park, with a large sandbox, but most importantly it has plenty of swing sets and bouncy horses.

Blaine loves bouncy horses.

Not as much as the swing sets because he feels like he’s flying and touching the sky in them, but the bouncy horses are a nice compromise.

Especially when he feels dizzy from the swing because Cooper didn’t stop when he told him too.

Poopyhead.

Blaine giggles as he bounces on the awesome horse he’s on for thinking such a naughty word when a mommy runs next to him, looking afraid.

“Kurt ?!” she calls and Blaine looks at her with a little frown on his chubby face.

Cooper comes closer, putting one hand on Blaine’s shoulder, and maybe he is a poopyhead, but he’s never far away and that makes him … less of a poopyhead.

“Excuse me, have you seen my son?” she asks Cooper and wow, Blaine thinks, she has the prettiest eyes and her hair is just like Ariel’s - maybe she is Ariel ! “He’s short, with brown hair and blue eyes and he’s wearing a little waistcoat,” she explains, making gestures with her hands.

Blaine remembers seeing a kid with a “wescoat” approaching the swing set when he got off of it - he thought that the boy looked like Lord Fauntleroy (Blaine loved Lord Fauntleroy).

He pulls on Cooper’s sleeve to tell him that - he can’t speak to strangers but Cooper is old enough.

“My little brother saw him by the swing set,” Cooper tells her after rolling his eyes at him and she looks around before spotting them and her eyes widen, as well as her smile.

“Kurt!” she calls, running toward the sets and Blaine sees a little boy jumping in her arms and making wide gestures with his hands toward the swings.

His mommy boops his nose, her smile gone and the little Lord bows his head and murmurs something before burying his face in her neck.

 

Blaine looks at Cooper who is still standing next to him and Cooper looks down at him and the two brothers exchange a smile.

The mommy comes back, Kurt walking next to her. “Kurt,” she tells him, “what do we say to the nice men who helped Mommy find you ?”

The little Lord looks up, his blue eyes finding Blaine’s.  “S’ank you,” he says softly, a little lisp altering his speech.

“Hi,” Blaine replies enthusiastically as he jumps down from the bouncy horse.

 

It’s not every day that he gets to meet a little Lord.


	2. Day 2

* * *

_Three months later_  
  
“Kurt !!”

 

Three months later

“Kurt !!”

Blaine runs as fast as he can - he can’t wait for his legs to be longer at last, like Cooper’s - but he tries to be careful : the heavy rain is making the sidewalk very slippery, even with his little yellow boots.

He is also very careful with the bag he has in his hand - Mommy worked hard to make them and he helped to decorate them, breaking them is out of the question.

“Kuuurt !!”

Kurt finally opens the door, a big smile on his face - even if a couple of teeth are missing - and Blaine can rush inside to escape the crocodiles in the pavement (and the rain).

The two boys hug each other as they always do - like only there can they find peace and happiness - while Elizabeth and Vivian smile at each other.

It’s only been three months that the boys have been friends, and yet it feels like a lifetime.

“Blainey-bee,” Vivian admonishes, “you’re getting Kurt all wet with your raincoat.”

Blaine looks up and surveys the damages he has made : Kurt’s front is completely soaked and he’s dripping water all over the entrance of the Hummel’s house.

“I’m sho shorry,” he apologizes, turning big amber eyes toward Elizabeth who tries to keep from laughing at his little lisp - what do you expect when a couple of teeth are missing?

“It’s okay, honey,” she replies, brushing stray curls from his forehead. “Lets get the both of you dry, shall we ?”

—-

Later, as Kurt and Blaine are wearing Kurt’s soft sweatshirts, Elizabeth serves them all tea - though the boys’ teapot is filled with apple juice, you can never be too careful with little boys who get over excited : stains, they can manage; burn because of the boiling water? More complicated than necessary.

Vivian opens the box of cookies she has made with Blaine - “he’s such a good assistant”, she insists and Blaine blushes and preens at the compliment - and Kurt is fascinated.

“It’s so pretty,” he whispers, holding a leaf in his hand. Blaine leans sideways and points at the smiley face.

“I made zat,” he explains and Kurt turns to look at him, a beaming smile on his face.

“Me and Mommy -” Blaine starts, launching in the complete story but Vivian simply tuts and he ducks his head. “Mommy and I made ze cookie dough togezer,” he explains, trying to overcome the lack of front teeth, “and then Mommy cut zem and we made the ishing togezer and Mommy painted it on and she let me draw the faces because I wanted zem to shmile for you,” he says, all in one breath and Kurt pulls him into another hug.

“Thank you, Blaine”, he whispers in his best friend’s ear.   
Blaine takes a deep breath and wraps his little arms around Kurt. “You’re sho welcome.”

 


	3. Day 3

 

  
 

* * *

George and Cooper are in the garden when Burt’s car enters the alley.

They’re raking the leaves - well, Cooper is raking the leaves. George is surveying what he’s doing as he leans on the rake.

Kurt jumps out of the car and looks up at Cooper with a beaming smile. He’s always been fascinated with the older boy - because he’s Blaine’s brother and he, himself, doesn’t have one ? Because he’s so cool and tall ?

Cooper doesn’t know, and even if he rolls his eyes and huffs at the little boy, he’s secretly pleased to have such a captive audience.

“Good afternoon, Burt,” George welcomes them and Burt goes to shake his hand.

Over the past year, the two fathers have bonded over their sons’ friendship - and even if they didn’t want to, their wives have been pretty insistent.

But they have struck a particular friendship, forged in fatherhood and adorable boys to watch over.

They both understand what it means to have a son that is the spitting image of his mother - even if George does have Cooper as his very own copycat-, a son who likes different things than most little boys.

A son that they would love no matter what.

Blaine runs out of the house, his wrist covered in a bandage from his last round of “Let’s pretend that the floor is made of lava”.

(The wooden pedestal Vivian had brought back from Switzerland didn’t appreciate it either, poor thing)

“Kurt !” he shouts and Kurt’s attention immediately zeroes on his best friend.

George returns his attention to Cooper - the teenage boy offered to rake the leaves from the garden in exchange of two hours “rental” time of his precious Corvette; he’s not going to let go of his baby for an half-ass done job.

But against all odds, Cooper is doing it very diligently, every leaf added to the careful pile near the tree.

For that split second, none of the grown ups watch what Blaine and Kurt are doing, and it’s all it takes.

“Geronimo !”

George, Burt and Cooper look up from their tasks at the war cry, unable to stop the two little boys as they launch themselves at the pile of leaves.

“Mother fu-”

“Cooper !” George warns and Cooper throws the rake to the ground.

“I am not going to do it all over because of those two !” he shouts and Blaine looks up from the pile with a guilty look.

“I’ll clean it up, Coop,” he says softly, trying to disentangle himself from the pile and Kurt helps him out.

“I’ll help too !” he proclaims fiercely, in his crystal clear voice, and Cooper’s anger melts at the sight.

He should be pissed, he knows that.

But when they both look at him like that, like two puppies left in the rain, he can’t stay mad at them.

With a smirk, he runs to jump in the pile with them, the two little boys’ shrieks of laughter echoing in the autumn afternoon.

 


	4. Day 4

* * *

_Two months later - December_

Elizabeth fidgets with the ambers in the chimney and Burt puts a calming hand on her shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine, Liz,” he whispers, trying to keep his voice down to make sure that Kurt doesn’t hear them.

Though they could be speaking as loud as they want and Kurt wouldn’t listen.

His little nose is stuck against the living room’s window as he watches over the cars passing in the street, waiting for Blaine and his family to finally arrive.

The Andersons are supposed to celebrate the actual Christmas Eve with Vivian’s family in Louisiana, so the two sets of parents arranged for all of them to have a … Christmas Eve Eve dinner.

Well …

Dinner might be too big a word to describe what they have planned in the boys’ back.

“They’re heeeeere !” Kurt shouts, ready to open the door but Burt rushes to his side. “Kurt, schmoops, it’s snowing outside, don’t open the door,” he admonishes and Kurt points at the scarf around his neck.

“But I’m bundled up, Dad,” he replies, articulating the complicated word without an error.

Burt is so proud. Nevertheless …

“Stand aside from the door, schmoops,” he instructs and Kurt sighs, taking three heavy steps away from the door to let his father open the door.

“Merry Unchristmas !” Cooper exclaims as he enters, Blaine sitting on his shoulders.

Their parents follow, a heavy looking bag in George’s hand and a big tupperware in Vivian’s.

Burt goes to help George with the bag - he knows that there is a gift from “Santa” for Kurt in there, better hide it before the little boy spots it - while Elizabeth makes grabbing gesture at the box in Vivian’s hands.

“Are those -” she starts, biting her lower lip to quell her enthusiasm and the other woman lets out a delighted giggle.

“Yep, Lizzie,” she whispers, barely opening the lid to let Elizabeth peek a look at the coveted treats, “I managed to save some of my Macapuno cupcakes for the three of you.”

Elizabeth skips to the kitchen to put the delicately decorated cupcakes in the refrigerator - they will be tomorrow’s dessert if she can keep them from Burt - and comes back with a large pan and an even larger jute bag, bulging and massive.

Kurt and Blaine interrupt their deep conversation about whether Santa is going to be able to find Blaine even if he’s not in his usual bed - Burt catches Kurt offering to leave a message to Santa next to the glass of milk and cookies to let him know what is going on - to look at her with curious eyes.

“Come on, everybody,” she calls, shaking the bag, “time to roast the chestnuts !”

The delighted squeals that come from the two - scratch that, the three boys are enough to let her know that this was the perfect plan.

—

Thirty minutes later, as Blaine is sitting on Elizabeth’s lap and Kurt on George’s, they carefully juggle with chestnuts just out of the ambers-heated pan and watch with wide eyes how to peel the charred burr, revealing the golden fruit, smoking and delicious.

The peculiar smell of the ambers and the chestnuts themselves is filling the living room, and Burt stands up to dim the lights.

He pulls out a camera to take several pictures of the scene : the two little boys carefully taking a bite of the hot chestnuts with the edge of their brand new front teeth ; the look of delight on their faces ; Cooper’s hamster face as he puts more than one chestnut in his mouth ; Liz pressing her face to Blaine’s curls to show him the pattern of wrinkles on the fruit ; Vivian pulling cooper into a backward hug.

It’s not Christmas yet, but it definitely feels like it.


	5. Day 5

* * *

March

“Whatcha wanna do ?”

Blaine’s voice is sleepy, but Kurt is already vibrating with excitement.

“We’re going to cook with Mommy !”

That catches Blaine’s attention, and he looks up from the floor, letting the penguin plush toy he was using as a pillow roll away. “Cook ?”

Kurt scrunches his nose. “Mommy said that she wants to make St Patrick’s cookies,” he explains with a little, secretive smile, “and she said that we could help her with all of it.”

“All of it ?” Blaine repeats, his voice small with awe. “Not just the icing ?”

“All of it,” Kurt confirms with a firm nod, and a heavy silence falls on them before they rush out of the room.

—

Elizabeth finishes to tie the apron around Blaine’s body with a nice little bow while Kurt attaches the piece of cloth around Blaine’s head, pirate style, to match his own blue “protection”, before pulling the two stools she found in the thrift shop just for the occasion.

“Okay, my little helpers,” she says, clapping her hands, “first we have to soften the cream cheese and the butter. I need someone who is super strong for that …”

Both boys raise their hand in a universal “pick me” gesture and Elizabeth decides to lets the Fates decide.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", she says, pointing at them before her finger lands on Blaine. “You will beat the cream cheese with the sugar,” she says and Blaine claps his hands, “while you,” she adds, pointing at Kurt who instantly stops pouting, “will work the butter and the yolks.”

They work quietly, even when they watch attentively how to separate the yolk from the egg white - “it’s slimy,” Kurt whines, but Blaine keeps poking at the yolk until it explodes in Elizabeth’s hand.

Elizabeth fears for her kitchen when they go to mix the two bowls together but they are extra careful, Kurt biting his lower lip as he pours the mixture and Blaine’s tongue poking out of his mouth as he keeps stirring with the wooden spoon.

When all the flour is added, she takes it off Blaine’s hand and shows them how to knead it all together; once again, she expects a disaster that would guarantee her having to shower them but she is surprised at how careful her two little “commis” are behaving.

The dough is soon ready and she forms a ball of it and covers it with a piece of cloth to put it in the fridge.

“Now we have to let it chill for a couple of hours,” she explains and the look of disappointment on their faces would make her heart break if she wasn’t so used to their puppy face. “But in the meantime, we get to have lunch and prepare the icing !”

Ah, there it is - the twin beaming smiles she has been expecting.

—-

As Blaine drops the yolks in the sink - trying to get the maximum splash out of them - Kurt starts whisking the whites, Elizabeth standing behind him to keep one hand on top of his on the electric mixer.

“Blaine, sweetie, pour the sugar will you ? Slowly,” she instructs and Blaine rushes to climb back on the stool, the bowl of confectioner’s sugar in both hands. He presses his lips tight to focus, a tiny frown appearing on his face as he tries to keep the sugar from falling too quickly.

“Look,” Elizabeth says as she turns the mixer off, “it’s making stiff little peaks,” pointing at the mixture in the bowl.

Both boys bow their heads to have a proper look, Blaine’s dark curls softly tangling with Kurt’s lighter strands - it’s just adorable.

“Now we can add some color !” she exclaims, pulling the bottle of green coloring agent from the pocket of her apron.

—

Once the dough has the proper texture, Elizabeth takes it on herself to roll it down to the proper thickness - she’s not going to risk the boys hurting themselves with the rolling pin - but they follow her every move as they crouch to have their eyes at the counter’s level.

They all play with the cookie cutters - several shamrocks, a couple of hats (it’s actually a “T” cookie cutter, but for the boys, it’s a top hat and she’s more than happy to let them think that it is) - before putting them in the oven.

The piping bag is in the refrigerator, waiting for the cookies to be baked and cooled down, and Elizabeth is planning on adding little sparkles of gold in the green icing, but in the meantime, the boys cannot be budged from their spot in front of the oven, a rapt look on their faces as the orange light glows on them.

It’s probably the sweetest thing in this kitchen right now, even with the cookies and the icing.


	6. All of it in one go !

* * *

_December 2002_

This year, the two families have planned ahead.

There is no family reunion out of state, everyone is in Chillicothe, and the two boys are going to be able to wait for Santa together.

With a little prodding from Elizabeth, the older Andersons can be convinced to sleep over too - it will be so much more fun in the morning to eat breakfast and open the presents all together, and one set of parental unit shouldn’t be deprived from watching the smile on their kid’s face, now, should they?!

(George is more than a little impressed by her rhetorical skills)

For the dinner, the three adult cooks have decided to go all out:  Elizabeth has roasted a duck all day, slowly and carefully while the Andersons have sweet-cured a whole ham, bringing all of their heritage together in one meal.

Blaine insisted on making his Lola’s macaroni salad, much to Cooper’s dismay, but Burt groaned at Kurt’s own insistence at making the roasted brussel sprouts his Morai used to make - it is good, don’t get him wrong, with the bacon bits and the sweet aftertaste of the cider vinegar, but it’s just …

Brussel sprouts.

All in all, the diner is more than a success, and both fathers carry their sons in the pillow-blanket fort they have built for themselves in Blaine’s room.

That’s when things get … complicated.

See, Burt has always dressed up as Santa to arrange the gifts around the tree - Kurt is one curious little boy, who has sneaky tendencies.

The thing is, George has always dressed up as Santa for exactly the same reason - except his reasons are doubled. Even if Cooper knows that he’s Santa, that doesn’t stop him from pushing Blaine to help him to “catch Santa”. The two boys are smart, and cunning, and George has only escaped their traps because of Vivian and her keen eyes for nylon strings.

The adults have planned ahead - they just haven’t coordinate who’s going to be Santa Claus.

That’s how, around 2 o’clock, the two men find themselves facing another version of the jolly, beardy man while Vivian and Elizabeth try to keep their laughter quiet - though they are crying from repressed laughter.

“It’s my house, I should be Santa,” George whisper-shouts  and Burt shakes his head.

“I’m a guest, I should go first,” he insists and Elizabeth leans against Vivian, the two women still standing up because of the mantelpiece, when a little sleepy voice freeze them all.

“Santa?”

The four adults look like rabbits caught in a car’s headlights as they face a sleepy Blaine holding hands with Kurt who is holding up a flashlight.

“Why is there two of you?” Kurt asks softly, and Elizabeth reaches to arrange his too long pants.

George looks at Burt with wide eyes, trying to communicate “your son, your explanation” and Burt clears his throat.

“There is only me and my … first assistant,” Burt finally says and Vivian lets out a very unladylike snort at George’s indignant face. Blaine looks up at her with a surprised look, but returns his attention to Santa.

Burt’s explanation seems to satisfy them and they rush to hug his legs.

“Alright, boys,” Elizabeth finally says, picking Kurt up and letting Vivian pick her own son, “time to let Santa and his … assistant, finish their tour around the globe!”

Blaine and Kurt look sheepish for a minute before waving goodbye at the two men clad in red and white.

“Santa!” Kurt calls once they are practically on the next landing, “please don’t add us to the naughty list?”

Blaine nods vehemently above Vivian’s shoulder and Burt exchanges a look with George.

“We’ll see next year, little Hummel,” he says with a gruff voice, “we’ll see”.

The fearful look in the boys’ eyes are enough to make them laugh afterwards, while they drink the milk and munch on the truly delicious cookies left for them.

—-

**Today**

**“Let me be Santa.”**

**Kurt looks up from where he’s sewing the faux fur on the sleeves of the costume, a glare in his eyes.**

**“Excuse me?”**

**Blaine walks from the doorway and sits on his haunches next to Kurt. “Please, let me be Santa.”**

**Kurt raises one eyebrow and smirks, going back to sewing. “Why should I let you be Santa?”**

**Blaine wiggles to get more balance and puts one hand on his thigh. “For one, I can totally rock the bearded look.”**

**“I’ll give you that. Two?”**

**“Two, I won’t need an accessory to give me a little pouch of a stomach, unlike you who is perfectly fit and muscled all over.”**

**“Ha, flattery will get you nowhere. Three?”**

**“Three … It’s about time an Anderson gets to wear the red suit in an Anderson vs. Hummel competition.”**

**They both remember the scene of their fathers caught in the costume and Kurt smiles at the memory.**

**“Fine, you can have it, but you owe me.”**

**Blaine jumps from his spot and kisses him before skipping back to Dan’s playroom.**

**Kurt silently chuckles as he cuts the thread:  the costume had always been for Blaine, but now, he has some leverage to get whatever he wants.**

—-

_April 2003_

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Spring is supposed to be fun, and flowers and birds chirping in the sun, with a little wind around them and the return of tea parties in the garden.

Not this.

Not wearing his black suit, with his hand engulfed in Daddy’s hand, as Mommy is gone forever.

Not Blaine crying as he holds him in a hug to keep him hidden from the crowd who wants to tell him how sorry they are and how tragic it is.

Kurt doesn’t know what tragic means, but if it means that he feels like he’ll never be able to smile without crying because Mommy called his smile her own sunshine, then yes, it is tragic.

Back in their house, Daddy stays silent on the couch, Mommy’s Summer scarf clutched in his hands and Blaine’s daddy’s hand glued to his shoulder. Blaine’s Mommy is running around, making sure that they both keep eating but Kurt can’t eat what she offers because she looks like she hasn’t slept in days, her eyes are red and her lower lip keeps trembling like it did when she picked up the phone to heard that Mommy had collapsed in the supermarket.

“A new rhythm rupture”.

It doesn’t even mean anything.

Kur is frustrated, and he’s sad, and hungry, and all he wants is his Mommy’s arms around him.

There is a knock on his door, and he barely grunts to answer it, clutching his penguin plush toy tighter against his chest, Mommy’s bird necklace wrapped around his fist.

“Kurt?”

Kurt takes an easier breath - it’s Blaine, Blaine is smart, Blaine knows him, he won’t say anything stupid like “it’s so sad”, and “I’m so sorry”.

The mattress dips a little before Kurt feels Blaine hugging him, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder.

After a couple of minutes, Blaine whispers against the itchy material of Kurt’s suit.

“My lola died too.”

Kurt knows that - Blaine had been so sad when they had come back from Louisiana to bury his grandmother. But grandmothers are supposed to die, they have seen and done enough, they deserve to rest.

Mommy still had a lot to see, a lot to teach him.

“When we cleaned her house, Mama took her perfume with her,” Blaine continues, his voice soft in the dark. “Even though she hated it when Lola wore it.”

Kurt makes an inquisitive noise and Blaine goes on. “She told me that she wanted to keep her scent around for a little while, to comfort her whenever she would need her mom’s presence.”

Kurt shifts on the bed to face Blaine and they stare at each other for a little while. He sniffles before replying, his voice thick with the tears he doesn’t want to let out.

“Mommy’s perfume bottle got emptied all over her dresser,” he says and Blaine’s eyes start sparkling in the dim light of his nightlight.

They scramble to get out of the bed and they rush into Kurt’s parents bedroom.

Kurt walks gingerly closer to the dresser and sniffs around. There it is - Mommy’s smell, the one that filled Kurt’s nose every time she would hug him close to her.

Blaine delicately sniffs around, a small smile stretching his lips when he catches it too.

“See?” he says softly as they lie down next to the piece of furniture - the scent is stronger at the bottom of it, where most of the perfume had poured before Elizabeth could stop the flow. “She’s still here.”

A couple of hours later, that’s how Cooper finds them:  lying on the floor, their heads close and their hands clasped together.

—-

**Today**

**Kurt and Blaine are decorating the tree under Dan’s careful supervision.**

**It’s Dan’s first “real” Christmas, and now he gets to pass on the ornaments.**

**“Daddy, what is that?” he asks, holding up a decoration made of scratched glass and golden sheen.**

**Kurt turns his head, and a soft, sad smile stretches his lips. He looks at Blaine, who smiles at him with teary eyes, before going to sit next to their son, taking the ornament in his hands.**

**“Let me tell you a story about your grandmother.”**

**“Mamischka?”**

**Kurt’s smile gets a little less sad. “No, baby, not Mamischka Carole. My mommy, the one who left before you could arrive. Once upon a time, …”**

—-

_December 2003_

Christmas sucks.

Santa sucks.

All Kurt asked for Christmas was to have Mamma back.

All he got was a new house and no more Blaine to hug him against the darkness.

And now they have to live in a city that sounds like a bean or almost like a strange horse/goat/giraffe hybrid.

Lima sucks too.

“Kurt?”

Kurt looks up from his homeworks to answer his father’s call.

“Come to eat, schmoo-” Burt starts, stopping himself in the familiar nickname because it was Liz who had come up with it after watching Monsters Inc. one too many time. “Come to eat, kiddo,” he corrects himself, and Kurt sighs as he stands up from the floor.

He can feel the corner of his mouth dropping a little bit when he sees the burnt grilled cheese sandwiches and the obviously canned tomato soup.

“What’s wrong, Kurt?” Burt asks, taking his cap off. Kurt can see that his dad is tired, and still sad, and  that it’s difficult for him to learn how to rule a house out of the blue - that’s why they came to that city, after all, so Burt could be closer to his brother’s family and work with him in the family owned garage - but Kurt had … hoped.

“I thought …,” Kurt starts, hesitant as he sits at the table. “I know that we are not going to have a big party, or anything, and that tomorrow we’ll be with Aunt Beth, but I thought …” Kurt trails off, keeping his eyes on the table.

Burt reaches out to cover Kurt’s hand with his own. “Kurt, it’s okay. Whatever you thought, you have every right to think it okay?”

“I thought we would still celebrate Christmas,” Kurt whispers and Burt feels like his heart is going to crumble in his chest.

“Of course we’re going to celebrate Christmas,” Burt says, scooching his chair closer to Kurt.

Kurt sighs again and looks up, his blue-green eyes - Liz’s eyes, and isn’t that just a punch in the gut - filled with tears.

“We don’t even have a tree”, he says softly again.

Burt is so impressed with Kurt never complaining, never whining - occasionally, Burt finds him crying silently in his room, Liz’s necklace around his wrist or fiddling with her empty bottle perfume, the one the two had turned into a Christmas tree ornament, or lying asleep next to Liz’s dresser - but it’s obvious that his kid is trying to hide his pain from him.

Kurt shouldn’t have to care about Burt’s feelings - he should be allowed to be himself, to demand things and throw tantrums like most kids do around that age.

(Though his only point of comparison is Blaine, and that kid is the most polite kid he’s ever seen - looks like the Andersons imported him from the 1950s).

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Burt finally says, brushing his fingers through Kurt’s soft locks, “I guess I … I forgot.”

“You forgot about Christmas?” Kurt asks, his eyebrows scrunched in shock.

Burt smiles sadly - it feels like his mouth forgot how to do that - and boops Kurt’s nose. “Nah - I forgot about all the things you have to do to welcome Christmas,” he replies.

I forgot about all the things you have to do to make your house a home, he thinks.

“Let’s get ourselves a tree,” he adds and a sparkle starts showing in Kurt’s eyes.

Burt had been looking for that sparkle - if Kurt’s eyes shine again, maybe he too will get better.

The sparkle makes a complete return the next morning with the mail, just as they open the door to go to Beth’s house.

With a letter from Blaine, and two little notes from the older Andersons - one for Kurt and one for Burt.

The little boy obviously applied himself into writing correctly everything by himself, and the drawings and collages he sends with his 3 sheets-long letter are little pieces of art that make Burt’s lips twitch.

The letter from Vivian and George makes him want to cry a little, but he feels all the love they have for the two of them, that they had for Elizabeth and he promises himself that he’s not going to let that friendship die.

If only for the smile the Anderson family brings back on Kurt’s face.

—-

**Today**

**“Tomato soup, Kurt?”**

**Blaine’s voice is laced with surprise and Kurt smirks as he stirs the wooden spoon in the pan.**

**“What is your question, oh husband of mine?”**

**Blaine comes closer and takes the spatula in his hand, offering to take over the grilled cheese sandwiches. “My question, hubby chéri, is why are you making tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for Christmas Eve?”**

**Kurt looks at him with a “are you kidding me” look and they both feign to ignore Dan’s giggles behind them.**

**“Let’s just say that it’s a … Hummel tradition.”**

—-

_May 2004_

George can feel it’s returning and the hair on his arms rise in anticipation.

3, 2, 1 …

*Sigh*

Once again, Blaine lets out a heavy sigh as he turns a new leaf of his book and George has it.

“What is it?” he asks, maybe a bit louder than he really wanted, if Blaine’s sudden jump is any indication.

“Huh?”

George pinches his nose. “Why do you sigh like someone stepped on all your toys and shipped them to your nemesis?”

Blaine blushes but doesn’t look confused - for an almost 9 year-old, he has a pretty wide vocabulary. “I just … I thought I could go and see Kurt and Burt for the Memorial Day weekend, but Mom said that we have to all go with Cooper to set him up in …”

“In Los Angeles, yes,” George completes for him, and his heart tightens a little as Blaine lets out another sad sigh.

He misses his friend and his son too, and he wishes they could just pack up and cross the state to Lima, to be with the two Hummel men and be there for them.

But they have to be there for Cooper too - he dealt as best as he could with Liz’s death, while Vivian and himself focused on Blaine. The teenager has been a real trooper, and it’s his turn to be in the spotlight:  he has earned it, after all, accepted at Stanford, that is a huge deal.

“I know, Blainey-bear. Next Christmas though?” he adds, standing up to pull Blaine in his arms - he’s getting so big, George knows that those hugs are reaching their end.

Blaine nods as he reaches to play with his father’s bow tie and George smiles at the thought of his little Blaine in approximately seven months, taking the train all by himself to spend Christmas Eve and day with the Hummels - little does he know what Vivian has planned.

*Ding dong*

Both men turn their heads toward the door and George catches their reflexion in the mirror next to it - Cooper is his “copycat”, but Blaine has taken some of his expressions.

“Who that might be, Daddy?” Blaine asks softly and George puts him back to the floor.

“I don’t know, buddy, let’s find out?” he says with a shrug, but Blaine is already running to open the door.

“Hello, kiddo,” the postman says and Blaine is, once again, gobsmacked in front of him - the old man looks like a dark-skinned Santa, all year long.

“Good afternoon, Remy,” George greets him and the postman nods at him.

“I have a package for the bumblebee,” Remy replies, holding up a square-shape package with lots of stickers and glitter.

George has a feeling he knows where it came from. “Do you want me to sign something?” he asks, and Remy raises one eyebrow.

“Tell me, son,” he asks Blaine, “do you know how to write?” , and when Blaine nods slowly, he holds the receipt pad in front of him with a pen, passing the package to George, “Then sign here, little man.”

Blaine carefully writes his name - he has a beautiful, neat handwriting, but it’s not easy writing without a “real” support - and Remy smiles at him, teeth super white against the dark caramel of his skin.

“Gentlemen, thank you,” he tells them both, tipping his cap at them and Blaine giggles as he waves at him.

“Good day,” he shouts and George huffs a laugh.

“Let’s open it!” he says enthusiastically, closing the door behind them.

—-

Just like he expected, it is a package from the Hummels.

There is an envelope on top of another wrapped box inside of the package, addressed to George and Vivian, and a folded yellow paper with Blaine’s name on it.

George puts the envelope in his pocket, ready to wait for Vivian to come home before reading it, but Blaine doesn’t wait, his amber eyes scanning the carefully written words from his friend, eyes widening and frowning at the different parts of the story.

“… and he says that the box is a surprise for all of us, Dad,” Blaine reads aloud.

“Then we wait for Mommy and Coop to come back,” George says firmly and Blaine slides his hand off the top of his bow where it was already resting, looking every bit like a puppy with its paw in the cookie jar.

—-

The box contains weirdly shaped cookies, and Vivian doesn’t get why George can’t stop laughing.

—-

**Today**

**“Pope?”**

**Blaine looks away from the bowl to look at his son, mentally cursing when he feels the flour landing on his feet. “Yes, Mahal?”**

**“Can I bake with you?” Dan asks, his voice soft and his eyes bright.**

**It’s really unfair that he got Kurt’s eyes, in the gene pool. If he had Santana’s eyes, Blaine would know how to say no.**

**“You promise to be careful?” Blaine replies, turning the mixer off, and Dan rushes to hug his leg.**

**“I promise, Pope, I promise!”**

**“Okay then,” Blaine says, ruffling his dark hair (and putting flour in them, what a sight). “Let’s bake Daddy some cookies.”**

—-

_October 2004_

Dear Kurt,

I hope you’re happy in Lima (I hope the lima bean I put in the envelope is there too, so you can plant one and I’ll plant one and we’ll both grow limas and it will be like we were together!)

Cooper is starting college in Los Angeles and the house seems even bigger without his big head around.

But he sent me a letter with pictures of his dorms and his friends - the building is so big! And there is a beach just next to one of the buildings.

Beach, Kurt.

Sand and waves and the ocean, the actual ocean.

Cooper promised that he would take me there when I visit him, but I don’t know when that will be.

Not for Christmas, that’s for sure!!

See you very very soon,

Blaine

Kurt finishes reading Blaine’s letter before putting it in his Special, Exceptional Bestie Box with the other letters Blaine sent him.

He takes the lima bean in his hand, closing his fingers around it before going back to the living room.

“Dad?”

“Yes buddy?” Burt asks, turning the sound of the TV off to focus on Kurt. “How is Blaine?”

Kurt smiles up at Burt. “He is good - he misses Coop, though he won’t say anything,” he says, bouncing on the couch next to his father.

Burt can’t believe he’s already so tall - he definitely takes after Liz.

“He sent me a lima bean - can we plant it?” Kurt adds, turning wide eyes to Burt like his father holds all the answers of the Universe’s questions. If only.

“Do you know how to grow lima beans?” Burt asks and Kurt shakes his head, turning his eyes to the little green bean in his hand. “Well, I don’t know either.”

“You don’t?” Kurt’s voice is filled with wonder - there is something his Dad doesn’t know to do!!

“I don’t, but we’ll learn together, alright?” Burt offers, and Kurt smiles brightly at him.

—-

When Blaine arrives for Christmas, there is a leaf pushing out of the little pot and Burt has never felt so proud.

—-

**Today**

**Blaine is busy burying the boxes inside the closet to notice that the balance is … perilous, to say the least.**

**It shouldn’t surprise Kurt, then, when a certain green box falls on his head.**

**“Ouch, fuckity fuck,” Blaine exclaims, and Kurt tries not to laugh too loudly at his husband’s antics.**

**“Fuckity, Blaine?” he asks, nevertheless, because this is just too good.**

**“Screw you,” Blaine mutters, rubbing his head before looking down. “What is in that box anyway?”**

**Kurt presses a kiss to Blaine’s head - magical kisses are not only for their son - before kneeling next to the box and its content.**

**“Oh,” he whispers. “All the letters you sent me …”**

**“Oh,” Blaine whispers back, following Kurt on the ground, only choosing to cross his legs. “Like when I sent you back your box of cookies filled with shortbreads?”**

**“And the time you sent me a lima bean and I discovered that my father was not almighty!”**

**Blaine scoots closer, knocking his knee with Kurt’s leg.**

**“And what about the one I sent you when you went back to Ohio, six years ago?”**

**“Should be there too,” Kurt says, his smile turning tender.**

——

_December 2004_

“Is it time?”

Burt sighs but can’t help to find his nearly-12 year-old adorable. “No, Kurt.”

10 minutes later

“Is it time yet?”

He is adorable, but Burt is not going to endure 90 minutes of nervosity and questions.

“Kurt.”

“Yes Dad?” Kurt walks away from the door, eyes wide and cheeks flushed.

“Look at the clock.”

Kurt looks up - and Burt is once again amazed that he doesn’t have that much to look up - at the clock on the fireplace.

“You know that Blaine arrives in two hours, don’t you?”

“Yes, Dad.” Kurt’s tone is just about to get that surly teenager quality - Burt can already feel the headache the upcoming years are about to bring his way.

“So when are we going to leave?” he asks, keeping his eyes on his newspaper.

Kurt sighs and takes his coat off. “I’m just really … really …” he trails off, making circles with his hand.

“Excited?” Burt offers and Kurt smiles.

“Yeah, excited.”

Burt knows that his son is looking forward to finally see his best friend - truth be told, he is looking forward to see the younger Anderson himself.

2 hours later

Burt is glad he took his old camera with him, if only to capture the moment Blaine sees them on the platform and starts running toward them, just as Kurt starts running before he can stop him.

And the moment they collide, holding each other in a tight hug, Blaine’s bag abandoned on the floor.

Later that night, as the two boys sleep under the Christmas tree - he didn’t forget this time - Burt feels something tightening in his chest at the sight of the two almost teenage boys, particularly as even fast asleep, Kurt reaches to tangle his fingers with Blaine.

—-

**Today**

**“When did you know that you loved Daddy?”**

**Dan often has peculiar questions, but this one is the winner.**

**Blaine looks at Kurt, who didn’t hear their son’s question back in the kitchen. “You know that we’ve known each other for a long time, don’t you?”**

**Dan nods, putting his elbows on the coffee table and leaning his head against his joined hands.**

**“From the moment I realized that I could breathe and run and smile again when I was with your Daddy,” Blaine replies, his smile soft as he brushes Dan’s soft dark locks. “From that moment, from the moment we spent our first Christmas together in Lima with Babu Burt, I knew that i would never love someone more than I loved your Daddy.”**

—-

_February 2006_

Blaine knows that he has to do it.

It doesn’t mean that he has to like it, but he has to be honest - with his parents, with himself.

With Kurt.

After all, he has known the truth about himself and his…sexual orientation - God, he has to learn how to say it without blushing - since last December.

Since he felt like his heart was going to explode when he saw Kurt running toward him.

Since he felt like a weight had been taken off his chest when he wrapped his arms around Kurt.

Oh God he’s in love with Kurt.

That can only mean that he’s gay, right?

Blaine doesn’t know how his parents are going to react, but he’s pretty sure they’re not going to throw his twelve year-old self out.

Okay, first he’s going to write a letter to Kurt - it will give him time to rehearse his speech to his parents and with the distance, he can count on at least one more week of friendship with his best friend if Kurt turns out to be homophobic.

Please, please, please, Blaine is using all of his unfulfilled wishes on that one, please don’t let Kurt be homophobic.

“Dear Kurt,

I hope you are well.

I have something to tell you.”

No,no, no, it sounds like he has a terminal disease or something.

“I have realized something about myself and -”

And again, no, no, no. He’s not joining a cult.

“You’re my best friend, aren’t you? And as such, I think you should be the first to know.”

Not too shabby.

“I - I am gay.”

There. It’s written, there is no backsies on that now.

“I really hope this won’t change anything between us - I’m still Blaine, I’m still me, and you’re still my best friend.”

My best friend who I love very very much and want to marry some day.

“I hope to see you soon.

Blaine”

It wasn’t so hard, was it?

Blaine puts his pen down and while he lets the ink dry, he looks for an envelope and a stamp. He’s not sure he’s ready for Burt to know about his … revelation, even though he idolizes the man.

Now, all he needs to do is tell his parents that he’s going to the Sadie Hawkins dance with Frank, and that it’s not a nickname for Francesca.

—-

**Today**

**“Kurt!”**

**The tone in Blaine’s voice is enough for Kurt to drop the spoon in the glitter and make a mess of everything to see what is going on.**

**Blaine is closing the door, still holding Dan’s drawings from school - that’s the tradition, to bring the students’ masterpieces home for break - and their son is looking at his shoes like they hold the answer to all the Universe’s mysteries.**

**“What is going on?” Kurt asks, and gasps when Dan looks up, a bruise on his cheek and a fierce look in his eyes.**

**He knows that glare, he has a copyright for it.**

**“I got in a fight,” Dan mumbles and Kurt’s eyes widen, searching for Blaine’s. His husband looks pissed off, but not at their kid, if the**   **comforting hand he puts on the little boy’s shoulder is any indication.**

**“You got in a fight just before Christmas break?” Kurt asks, deadly serious. “What happened?”**

**“Dan, go to your room, I’ll be right with you okay? I’ll explain everything to Daddy,” Blaine says calmly and Dan follows his command, his head high and his steps determined.**

**Blaine sighs. “One of the kids told Dan that Santa wouldn’t come because his family is unnatural,” he says with a wince. “And our kid didn’t take that gracefully,” he adds, shaking his head.**

**“At least tell me that the other is looking worse to wear,” Kurt says quietly to make sure that Dan doesn’t hear him.**

**“Oh, I think he broke his nose,” Blaine replies, pride glinting in his eyes. “Our little fighter,” he adds softly, but Kurt can see that there is a**   **sadness in his eyes and pulls him in a hug.**

**“Our son won’t have to go through what we had to experience,” Blaine mutters in the material of Kurt’s shirt.**

—-

Kurt replies to Blaine’s letter to let him know that he’s definitely not alone.

They’re both lucky enough to have parents who act, well, like parents, and don’t think that they have to stop loving their sons because of something they have no control over.

They keep writing to each other until the end of February.

When quite inexplicably, Blaine stops writing, and Kurt is devastated when his latest letter comes back with a “Unknown at this address” stamp.

Both Hummel men are devastated when Burt can’t reach the older Andersons either.

It’s only later, when a newspaper from Chillicothe arrives in their mailbox in Lima, that they learn what happened.

That Blaine was attacked for going to the school dance with a male friend.

That the Andersons moved - new location undisclosed in the article.

Kurt is heartbroken, but he builds his life back, along with walls around his heart to keep himself from suffering again.

After all, both his mother and his best friend left without a warning - who’s to say that it won’t happen again?

So he makes friends, but never letting them get too close.

Until he gets to New York, and he feels like now that he’s an adult, he will be able to deal with heartaches and the pain that can come with taking the risk to let someone in.

Kurt dates, gets dumped, dumps in turn, but never feeling like the connection is there.

Until one Christmas he does.

——

Blaine has had many opportunities to learn the definition of the word ‘resilient’ in the past years

After the attack, he learned that he could heal, both in body in mind.

Not his soul though - it feels like his very soul has been crushed instead of his bones, and it’s not as easily mended.

But Blaine gets by:  they move out of state, closer to his mother’s family in Louisiana.

School is a breeze, but Blaine is careful to keep a large distance between himself and his classmates.

Either because he doesn’t want to let them close enough to hit or because he doesn’t want to put them into the line of fire by his side.

Blaine is not back in the closet, but he doesn’t … he only mentions it when he’s sure that he’ll be safe.

That doesn’t happen very often but it still happens - enough to start mending his heart.

When the time comes for him to pick a college, he doesn’t hesitate very long, between the two coasts - California sounds great, and it would allow him to get closer to Cooper, but no.

His life is waiting for him in New York.

There, Blaine starts dating, realizing what it means to be a gay man who is attractive and who can act on his attraction.

But the more he dates, the more he realizes that Jeremiah, and Sebastian, and Eli, are not — it.

He doesn’t mind though:  Blaine knows that just like his life was waiting to get started for him to get to New York, the love of his life is waiting somewhere.

Until one Christmas the waiting is over.

—-

**Today**

**“What is your favorite holiday, Daddy?”**

**Kurt finishes tying Dan’s scarf around his neck and looks at his son„ their eyes sparkling the same shade in the entrance’s light.**

**“I know that Papa’s favorite holiday is Valentine’s Day, but what is yours?” Dan adds, slipping his hands in his ‘glovitten’, as he calls the mittens Santana got him, with the little half-finger mitten pullover.**

**Kurt attaches his own scarf, making sure that they’re both protected against the wind outside and hums as he thinks it over.**

**“Christmas,” he finally says and Dan smiles that special, adult smile that sometimes grace the five-year old’s face.**

**“Really, Daddy?” he asks, seemingly amazed.**

**“Really, really,” Kurt replies, booping Dan’s nose. “So many wonderful things happened to me and your Papa at Christmas.”**

—-

That was on his bucket list for 2012, after all: Kurt had said that he would skate on ice before the end of the year. His father is in town, but he’s not about to try his hand (or more accurately, his feet) on the ice:  Burt is comfortably sitting at a little table near the rink, drinking a hot chocolate, ready to get one for his son as soon as Kurt has enough of the ice.

Afterwards they’ll find a little dinner - Kurt knows one, right next to Juilliard - where they’ll have their traditional grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.

But for now, Kurt looks like Bambi sliding on the ice, and Burt feels like his heart jumped out of his chest when it looks like his son is going to fall headfirst.

Right out of a romcom, someone sweeps in and stops his fall with an arm around Kurt’s chest.

“Hey, careful there,” the man says and Kurt takes a deep breath - he swears he saw his short life flash in front of his eyes - to thank him properly when his voice catches in his throat.

He has only seen this shade of eyes on one person.

“Blaine?”

But it is Blaine who looks at him with his head cocked to the side, curly hair brushed away with a layer of carefully applied gel.

Blaine whose eyes widen until they’re round and filled with tears.

“Kurt!”

The shorter boy pulls Kurt into a bone-crushing hug and they stand like that, on the ice, in the middle of the crowd for longer than what is probably safe.

Kurt lets his fingers travel down Blaine’s back, from the nape of his neck to his waist - God how tiny can it get, how handsome can one man turn to - revelling in the knowledge that this is not a dream.

His Blaine is back.

—-

**Today**

**Blaine is waiting for them on the ice, skating like he was born with the blades on his feet (and isn’t that a painful image), twirling and making circles nonchalantly.**

**Kurt envies his ease. Dan looks at his father with wide eyes, his lips parted as he follows the figures he draws on the white rink.**

**“Can I join Papa?” Dan asks shyly, and both George and Burt look at Kurt for his answer.**

**Kurt would bet that there is a bet going on between the two grandfathers.**

**“Me first,” Kurt says with a crooked smile and Dan looks forlorn for a**   **moment. “We’ll help you to get on the ice together,” he adds and Dan’s smile is back with a vengeance, following him as he steps on the ice and launches himself at Blaine.**

**Blaine welcomes him with open arms, holding him close for a moment. “Careful there,” he whispers and Kurt pecks his lips.**

**“Let’s get our son on the ice.”**

—-

Burt looks just as emotional as the two boys as they walk out of the rink and he recognizes the boy who’s walking by his son’s side.

“Blaine,” he breathes before pulling the young man in a bear hug. “I missed you buddy,” he whispers and Blaine tightens his hold on the older man’s back.

“I missed you too,” Blaine whispers back, and he means it:  he didn’t realize until now, but he missed the support, the quiet strength that the older man seems to spread around him generously for whoever needs it.

Burt pulls away and claps his shoulder. “It’s good to have you back, but what are you doing here?”

Blaine smiles and a blush appears on his face.

Kurt is momentarily stunned by how … beautiful Blaine looks, bundled up in his coat and red scarf, cheeks glowing pink and the rink’s light making his eyes look even more mesmerizing than he remembered.

It’s not hazel, it’s not green, it’s … gold with amber flecks.

Kurt feels like his breath is taken from him when he thinks, out of nowhere, that he wants to look into these eyes forever.

“Juilliard,” Blaine says, his gloved hands getting animated, “Musical composition - I’m just starting my Master Degree, but my department director is already saying that I should pursue it to the Doctorate, so … we’ll see,” he adds, his smile turning shy suddenly as he looks at Kurt.

There is something that goes between them in that moment, and Burt shakes his head with a chuckle as he’s momentarily forgotten by the two young men.

He can’t say that he’s surprised when Kurt calls him, two months later, to tell him that Blaine asked him out on Valentine’s Day (“how more romantic can he be, Dad?”) and just left him with the world’s most wonderful kiss on his doorstep.

Not even a little bit surprised (moved, yes, definitely though).

—-

**Today**

**Kurt takes Dan by the hand to take him back to the living room.**

**He knows that look on Blaine’s face - Hell, he had to understand by himself what it meant back when they moved in together in the summer between the two last years of Blaine’s doctorate.**

**“Why can’t I write with Papa?” Dan asks him as they settle on the couch to watch ‘Fantasia’.**

**(The kid is obsessed)**

**“Because it’s not any writing,” Kurt says, pulling his son against him.**

**Dan still fits in his side like a big doll, but if he’s anything like him, Kurt knows that it won’t last that much longer.**

**“He’s writing … to Santa?” Dan tries and Kurt has to stifle a laugh.**

**“No, Duchka,” Kurt says, using the nickname Carole’s mother used the last time they saw her, “he’s writing music.”**

**Dan opens wide eyes and looks at the screen, just as Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue’ starts playing. “Music like that?”**

**“Music like that,” Kurt echoes, and the wonder in his son’s eyes is also something he knows well.**

—-

To their friends, it looks like something obvious.

They’ve known them separately, and discovering them together - their friendship as strong as  it was in their childhood but with the added layer of love and physical attraction - is a revelation.

Be it Rachel, Santana, Sebastian or Sam, they never knew that this could be under the mask each boy carefully crafted over the years.

This passion.

This joy.

This way to glow from within when the other arrives.

It’s mind blowing to all of them, but then again, they always knew that the boy / man they knew was hiding something.

It doesn’t surprise any of them when they move together two years after starting dating each other.

It doesn’t surprise any of them either when they come separately to ask for help.

To propose, no less.

The four friends meet at their favorite coffee place without the couple to laugh about how ridiculously in sync they are.

—-

**Today**

**Dan is sliding himself from the pillow to under the covers to go to sleep on Christmas Eve and  Kurt wonders if maybe he has watched the Aristocats one too many time as he arranges the covers around him.**

**“Is Santa going to come?” Dan asks sleepily and Kurt eyes Blaine in the doorframe, winking at his husband.**

**“Well, you have been pretty nice lately, so I’m sure he will,” Kurt replies thoughtfully.**

**“And tomorrow,” Dan starts, interrupted by a yawn, “we will see Mama Tana and Uncle Bastian?”**

**Kurt kisses his son’s forehead. “Yes, honey.”**

**“And Aunt Rachel and Uncle Sam?”**

**“Yes honey.”**

**“Every -” another yawn that puts every lion to shame, “everybody?”**

**“Everybody,” Kurt echoes, turning the night light on and the room’s light off.**

**“Daddy?”**

**He turns his head to look at Dan snuggling himself in his bed, his eyes already closed.**

**“Yes, baby duck?”**

**“Love you.”**

**Kurt feels like his whole face hurts, his smile is so large. “I love you too, little dumpling.”**

——

It took them some times, but they got it together.

The two proposal merged into one, with a little help from their friends, and they even got that honeymoon in “Santa’s homeland” thanks to them, after Blaine’s doctorate.

Dan was a careful plan, and there was not a shadow of a doubt in Blaine’s mind that their first kid at to be Kurt’s - biologically speaking.

The moment the doctor put Dan in his arms, he knew that even without the genetic bond, he was his son.

A look at his father told him that the older man knew what he was going through - he could have done without the knowing smirk though.

A look at Burt’s told him that the blue eyes, a vivid reminder of both Kurt as a child and Elizabeth, were doing something to him, and the look on the older Hummel man’s face when he held Dan for the first time is something Blaine is glad they captured on film.

Now that he’s arranging the gifts around the tree, expecting the patter of little feet on the ground, Blaine thinks that one thing is missing.

The next morning, as Dan opens his gifts while babbling about his chance encounter with Santa, Blaine pulls an album from the closet.

It’s the album photo Cooper sent to him his first year of college, the album filled with pictures from their childhood.

It’s the album of their story, in some ways, and now, Dan is old enough to listen to that tale.

“Did we ever tell you how we met?” he starts, opening the album at the first page, a single picture of the old playground stuck on it. “We were about your age, weren’t we honey, and I used to looooove bouncy horses …”

**THE END**


End file.
